Toilet soap in bar form is by far the most common type of soap employed in households, hotels, motels, etc. The use of soap in this form has certain longstanding disadvantages. It is not possible for a bar of soap to be completely consumed because it eventually becomes so small as to be ineffectual for further use in the normal way. The majority of persons discard the bar when it becomes this small.
Another characteristic of bar soap is its tendency to soften when kept in conventional soap trays or the like between periods of use. This softening reduces a bar of soap to a mushy consistency on its underside even when it is supported in such a way as to permit the drainage of moisture from the bar and the circulation of air therearound.
Another problem with bar soap is the slippery surface when wet which makes the bar difficult to hold. As a result, wet soap is often dropped. Sometimes the bar, when dropped, will break or split into two or more pieces. When a person is handicapped in a way to make it difficult for him to retrieve a dropped bar of soap, the dropping becomes a serious problem instead of a mere annoyance. In some cases where a person is seriously afflicted with arthritis in his hands, it is difficult to grip a bar of soap even before it becomes slippery, and virtually impossible to hold onto the bar after it gets wet. A blind person dropping a bar of soap in a shower will obviously have a greater problem than a person with good eyesight.
One attempt to overcome the above disadvantages was to mold a bar or ball of soap on a loop of synthetic material, "soap on a rope", which would be resistant to the moisture present when the soap was not being used. The loop could be placed on a handle of the shower or tub fixture and used with a wash cloth in a conventional manner. When the ball or bar became too small for further use the remaining soap and loop were discarded.
The most recently known means for overcoming the foregoing disadvantages can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,480,939. Therein is disclosed a sack formed from synthetic netting material of a size to receive the common size of bar soap. The sack is not closed at its open end by reason of two upwardly extending flaps with means at their terminus to receive a hook element which extends outwardly from a base attached to a support surface. The texture of the netting permits easy holding of the soap even when wet. The texture of the netting is no more abrasive than the texture of a wash cloth with which use can be dispensed. A sighted person can easily place the sack on the hook. The sight impaired person can do so only by feeling for the hook in the course of which seeking the sack may be dropped. If the sack is dropped, the soap bar may slide out of the sack and this problem is compounded.